Thank you for the question on Ezekiel 32:27, “Did people ever live to be one hundred and twenty as quoted in Ezekiel 32:27, or did that mean the maximum possible of life?”
Regrettably Ezekiel 32:27 does not refer to the age of people. The text that one cited is as follows: “But they do not lie with the fallen warriors of old, who went down to the realm of the dead with their weapons of war–their swords placed under their heads and their shields resting on their bones–though these warriors also had terrorized the land of the living.”
Having written that, the question of the age of humans is found in Genesis 6:3 The text says this, “3So the LORD said, “My Spirit will not contend with man forever, for he is mortal; his days shall be 120 years.”
The context states that God saw the sinfulness of humans overtaking the world. Harm, destruction and even death committed by other individuals upon other persons. Evil was rampant. The people were continuing marring the image of God in humans so much that the reflection of God is lost. God declare that he will not tolerate the sinfulness of man on earth forever and that he intends to limit the life span of humans to 120 years old.
The phrase, shall not contend with man forever,” and “for he is mortal” refers to his limited existence on earth. At the time of the Flood, humans were living nearly a millennium. It was a millennium of violence by man. God states the life expectancy of man to be 120 years old.
In the Genesis record, God continually allowed man to live past 120 but his years were decreasing as each generation passed. Noah’s descendants continue to live shorter life’s span than those before the Flood. God did not state that man’s life expectancy IS 120 but SHALL BE 120. The verb, shall be, infers an unspecified future time period, not an immediate limitation of man’s life expectancy.
In our modern period even with our current technology and medical advances, humans have not exceeded the age of 120. Is it possible that scientist will find the mechanism that God used to limit the age of life expectancy? It is likely and may reverse or slow the aging process. With replacement parts of vital organs, humans can live longer than 120. Even though that is a possibility, one can imagine if someone is a violent and cruel person, how much havoc that person will have on others if that person is not incarcerated or executed by capital punishment. In the wisdom of God, 120 years is enough time to see the character and actions of a person.
SUMMARY: God declared the life expectancy of man to be 120 for within that 120 years humans will see the depravity of others upon others. We don’t need to see ungodly people living to 300 years while wrecking havoc on families and communities.
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